Portsmouth residents are up in arms after it has been revealed that all mail sent from the PO Postcode will now be stamped with a Southampton postmark.
City leaders in Portsmouth have expressed their disappointment that all mail sent from the PO postcode will now have a Southampton postmark after the closure of the Slindon Street processing centre in Portsmouth.
The local paper The News has broken the story as Councillors and residents alike are frothing at the mouth.
Speaking to the News Leader of Portsmouth City Council Councillor Donna Jones said:
"This is the first I have heard of it."
"I’m disappointed. We’re a city and it’s important that we recognise our city status, particularly as tourists will come to the city and send postcards to friends and loved ones."
"Portsmouth deserves and should have its own postmark."
"We are a city and it’s important that we recognise our city status particularly as tourists will come to the city and send postcards to friends and loved ones "
"I'm going to talk to the Royal Mail about this"
Councillor Frank Jonas, the Lord Mayor of Portsmouth, said:
"I would have thought that a city this size and the history we have at least deserved our own postmark."
"To be linked with our "nearest and dearest” is probably going to upset a lot of people."
"I’m disappointed that they can’t keep Portsmouth’s postmark."
Even the local MP's are up in arms, Flick Drummond, MP for Portsmouth South, said she is going to look into the issue.
"That’s bad news,I want my letter to come from Portsmouth, not Southampton."
The last word though is from the Royal Mail who make it quite clear that they are more interested in cost and efficiency than pandering to local pride.
"Mail posted from PO postcode areas is now processed at Southampton Mail Centre."
"We recognise the concern some customers may have at the change of postmark and we are working on design and implementation of a new postmark appropriate to the Portsmouth area which reflects the recent changes to our mail processing operations.
"First and foremost, any changes Royal Mail makes to its operations are designed to ensure that customers receive their mail as efficiently and quickly as possible."
So what does everyone think ?
Personally although for us Scummers this is comedy gold, I can see the Skates point, I would not be happy if our letters had a Portsmouth postmark.